Within the telecommunications industry, "ribbon-type" connectors are widely used for connecting multi-conductor cables to electrical equipment. A typical ribbon connector is comprised of a prismatically-shaped, insulative block which carries two parallel rows of spaced electrical contacts. Each of the contacts in each row has mating portion at one end for mating with a contact on a complementary jack. Opposite the mating portion on each contact is a terminating portion which is exposed through a separate one of a plurality of recesses, each lying in a row along a separate one of a pair of opposed, longitudinal faces of the block. The terminating portion of each contact carries at least one barb for piercing the insulation of a wire rammed into the recess. Once the barb has completely pierced the insulation about the wire, an electrical connection is made between the wire and the contact.
Attachment of a pair of ribbon connectors to a multi- conductor cable usually occurs at the facility where the cable is manufactured. At such facilities, a machine of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,472, issued on July 12, 1977, in the name of William S. Cover et al., may be used to attach successive pairs of wires of the cable to successive pairs of contacts of the connector. While the connector attachment machine disclosed in the Cover et al. patent generally operates satisfactorily, the machine is relatively expensive and bulky, and hence, is not well suited for field use.
In U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 290,551, filed in the name of M. Muhlberger et al. on Dec. 27, 1988, and assigned to AT&T (incorporated by reference herein), there is disclosed an apparatus for attaching successive pairs of wires in a cable to successive pairs of contacts of a ribbon connector. The Muhlberger et al. apparatus is much less complex than that of Cover et al. and is well suited for field use. However, the Muhlberger et al. apparatus incurs the disadvantage that it cannot accommodate some types of ribbon connectors. As described in the aforementioned application, the Muhlberger et al. apparatus employs a pair of fixed-stroke rams, each serving to ram one of a pair of wires into one of the pair of recesses in the connector to engage the contact therein. The fixed stroke of the rams of the Muhlberger et al. apparatus is too long for some types of ribbon connectors and can distort the contacts in the connector. In addition, each of the wire guides on the Muhlberger et al. apparatus, for guiding a separate one of a pair of wires in alignment with each ram, can be inconvenient to use.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus capable of attaching successive pairs of wires to successive pairs of contacts on a ribbon connector without the aforementioned disadvantages.